On the evening of May 17, 1999, the Eastern and Western Conference semifinals officially began.
The Hawks, led by Wilkens, the thousand-win coach, defeated the Magic with a score of 3:1.
The Hawks came to New York in advance and were bombarded by Lee's advertisements in the past two days.
Mutombo is a good friend of the gorilla.
The two of them floated together and naturally had a very close relationship.
Madison Square Garden was packed that night.
Mutombo saw the small bronze trophy placed in the center of the venue and heard the speech of President David Stern.
For a moment, he felt that Ewing was really out of date.
The applause and cheers in the arena became louder and louder, and the New York fans who were present stood up to greet him.
"I'm glad to see young players achieve this achievement, first in the scoring list, first in the three-point list!"
"Historical efficiency, leading the Knicks to first place in the Eastern Conference, perfect No. 1 position!"
"Most importantly, he is only 21 years old, which is definitely a blessing for the basketball world!"
"Congratulations on becoming the 1999 NBA regular season MVP - Clay-Lee!"
After David Stern, dressed in a black suit, finished his speech, he smiled and handed the little bronze man to Lee, who was "fully armed" in the white New York home jersey.
After receiving the trophy, Lee nodded first, then raised the little bronze man high.
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
Huge shouts resounded throughout the arena, and David Stern, who was standing by, applauded again, thinking that the New York basketball market seemed to be better than before.
Michael Jordan's retirement did not cause any impact on New York.
On the contrary, the old fans were comfortable and continued to buy tickets enthusiastically.
In the shortened season, the Knicks' season tickets were not worried about selling.
After Lee handed the trophy to the staff, he took the microphone in the middle of the venue and said simply:
"MVP is just a beginning. Our work is not yet done. The Knicks will once again challenge for the championship!"
"."
On the visiting bench, the Hawks felt the hot atmosphere on the scene and looked at each other without speaking.
Head coach Wilkens looked serious.
Before the last warm-up began, he reminded the players again:
"Mookie, control your mistakes and don't give the opponent an easy chance to counterattack. Dikembe, remember to delay."
Mookie Blaylock and Mutombo immediately nodded to show that they understood.
Most of the main players of the Hawks are over 30 years old, and only Chris Crawford is a rookie forward from the 1997 class.
At the TNT commentary booth, Hubie Brown was still praising Wilkens' coaching ability:
"The use of Crawford this season has relieved the pressure on the Hawks' interior defense."
"During the regular season, the Hawks limited opponents to 83.4 points per game, ranking first in the league. The Hawks played phenomenal defense this year."
Dick Stockton, his partner, did not pick up the topic.
The Hawks' defense was indeed excellent, but the offense was really lame.
During the regular season, the Hawks averaged 86.3 points per game, and won the first round, relying more on defense, and such offense ranked second to last in the league.
The last team is the Bulls, who have become the bottom team.
"Tonight's game is a test for Blaylock and Steve Smith. Lee and Alan Hughes are younger and in good shape!"
"On rebounds, the Hawks may have some advantages. Grant Long is in good shape in the first round, but Larry Johnson also has a brilliant performance."
"Considering that Lee won the MVP tonight and the home atmosphere is blessed, the Knicks may soon enter the game state. The Hawks should be careful!"
Dick Stockton briefly introduced the status of the players of both sides.
In his words, he was more optimistic about the Knicks.
In the shortened season, the Knicks averaged 102.7 points per game during the regular season, leading the league, and became the only two teams with more than 100 points this season together with the Kings.
Both of them in the commentary booth knew that the Knicks had a deep bench.
As long as Sprewell played normally, it would be difficult for the Hawks to limit him.
Jeff Van Gundy did not give too many instructions to the players.
The two teams played against each other many times in the regular season and knew each other very well.
Amid the cheers of the fans, the game started quickly.
The bald young coach watched from the sidelines for a while, then returned to the bench.
The Hawks were very determined in the first round after the opening.
After a screen, Steve Smith made a jump shot from the right wing three-point line.
In the next few rounds, Steve Smith continued to attack, but he missed shots continuously.
Coach Wilkens could only keep asking the players to retreat quickly.
After almost 3 minutes of the game, the Hawks scored zero points.
Chris Crawford was very active after the opening, but Oakley was experienced and stuck to his opponent in every round, and the rebounds were protected.
This time, Mutombo was under Ewing's defense at the bottom left of the basket.
His right-handed throw under the basket missed again.
Oakley grabbed the rebound, and the Hawks could only retreat quickly.
"Let's go Knicks! Let's go Knicks! Let's go Knicks!"
The cheers were getting louder and louder.
After receiving the ball, Lee didn't rush to advance.
Facing the close defense of Mookie Blaylock, he dribbled across half court cautiously.
Lee's ball protector has been blocking the opponent's small moves.
The two have been competing since the opening.
He has been selected to the All-Defensive Team for several consecutive years.
Although Blaylock is only 183 cm tall, he is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.
However, compared with the previous two years, Lee can feel that the opponent's lateral movement speed has decreased a bit.
When he came to the right wing, the Knicks team had already completed their positions.
Ewing moved quickly and began to slow down when he came to the right elbow area of the free throw line.
Mutombo, who followed the defense, realized that this was a defensive position that was neither good nor bad.
He immediately reminded his teammates loudly:
"Don't let him break through!"
Outside the three-point line, Lee, holding the ball in his right hand, did not shake too much.
After lowering his center of gravity, he accelerated the breakthrough against the defense.
Standing on the three-point line, Mookie Blaylock kept giving physical confrontation, and the two collided.
Lee adjusted his steps, took a step back, slightly raised his center of gravity, and then suddenly leaned forward to accelerate.
Mutombo cursed inwardly, and saw that his teammate had lost most of his position in an instant, and hurriedly moved to the basket.
However, he noticed that Ewing behind him was also following, and Mutombo was distracted, and Lee had already broken through to the lower right side of the basket.
Noticing the opponent's help defense, he quickly jumped and broke through the defense.
After Lee came to the basket, he briefly pulled the lever and turned around to the lower left side of the basket and succeeded in a layup!
Mutombo, who was returning to defense, looked helplessly at Lee, who was retreating.
Mookie Blaylock next to him raised his hand again to indicate that it was his problem.
0:8, 9 minutes and 7 seconds left in the first quarter, Madison Square Garden was already boiling.
When the Hawks' offense failed again, Mutombo grabbed the frontcourt rebound and made a layup, helping the team get 2 points, which helped the team break the deadlock.
In the commentary booth, Hubie Brown saw Alan Houston start from the right corner, with the help of Larry Johnson's screen, and hit a three-pointer from Lee's cross pass on the right wing. For a moment, he could only sigh:
"The Knicks are worthy of being the best offensive team in the league at present."
"Lee and Houston took all the points for the team after the opening. The two are in excellent condition."
After Steve Smith, who had missed shots continuously, hit a pull-up jumper in the right blocking area, Dick Stockton jokingly said:
"This is also a duel between Coach Van Gundy and Coach Wilkens."
"The two have different coaching philosophies. At present, it seems that the Knicks have the upper hand!"
As the game progressed, Lee attracted more defense and began to pass the ball to the inside.
Perhaps stimulated by the MVP award ceremony, Ewing was in good condition tonight.
After a simple pick-and-roll, he quickly went down to the left near the baseline, received the pass, and made a steady mid-range jumper!
In the next two rounds, the gorilla even hit a long two-pointer after the pick-and-roll.
Although the Hawks also responded, head coach Wilkens still requested a timeout.
"Ah!"
After scoring three goals in a row, Ewing beat his chest and roared, and the Knicks atmosphere team also jumped up and high-fived to celebrate.
Jeff Van Gundy felt that the game was under control, and he didn't say much during the timeout, and continued to pretend to be dead.
Coach Wilkens made adjustments in a timely manner.
In the first round after the timeout, Mookie Blaylock played a pick-and-roll at the 5th position.
Using Mutombo's screen at the top of the arc, Blaylock got rid of the defense and shot it!
"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net.
At 11:18, the score difference was narrowed to 7 points, and the Hawks bench also regained its vitality and cheered.
Continuously applauding, Mookie Blaylock encouraged himself.
This time he did not choose to defend closely.
Seeing Lee calling tactics outside the three-point line, he subconsciously glanced back.
When he came to his senses, he saw Lee holding the ball in his right hand suddenly speeding up.
Blaylock hurriedly slid, Lee changed speed and shook, took two steps in a row, and then quickly changed direction in front of his body.
Completely opening up the defense, scooping up the ball with his left hand, Lee quickly cut in from 45 degrees, and followed Oakley to stand at the elbow area on the left side of the free throw line.
Chris Crawford subconsciously chased to the basket.
Then he jumped together.
After the two confronted each other in the air, Lee grabbed the ball with his left hand, dodged the defense, and took advantage of the opponent hitting his shoulder to quickly shot the ball to the backboard!
"Balll!"
"Squeak!"
The whistle sounded and the ball went in.
Chris Crawford waved his hands helplessly, and the hard foul didn't have much effect.
Lee shook his shoulders, and in the cheers of the fans, he also hit the free throw steadily.
Seeing that the score difference returned to 10 points again, head coach Wilkens on the sidelines looked at the bench, but finally did not make a substitution.
Like all old-school coaches, he also believed in veterans more.
According to the game plan formulated before the game, the Hawks wanted to grab the start and take the lead, but Steve Smith had a bad touch tonight, and it ended up digging a hole at the beginning.
At the end of the first quarter, Jeff Van Gundy started to rotate again.
After Sprewell, Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace came on the court, the Knicks did not lose any rebounds.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was fixed at 20:29.
Coach Wilkens on the sidelines looked serious.
The defense failed.
The game was quite intense.
Mookie Blaylock and Clay Lee played the entire first quarter.
The two of them had a lot of confrontations and their hands never stopped moving.
Hubie Brown in the commentary booth had noticed this situation a long time ago.
During the intermission, he said cheerfully:
"Lee's skills are not like those of a young player. Blaylock tried to disrupt his dribbling rhythm with defense, and Lee also responded well and did not increase the number of ineffective dribbles."
"MVP deserves the title. With 5 assists in a single quarter, Lee quickly activated the team's offense!"
Dick Stockton felt that the Hawks lacked vitality on the offensive end:
"It is really difficult to play away from home. I hope the Hawks can get back to their form as soon as possible."
The nearly double-digit score difference made Madison Square Garden boil.
The fans knew that the rotation lineup was also an advantage for the Knicks.
Sprewell, the best sixth man, was getting better and better, and the coaching staff did not have to worry about the offense of the rotation lineup.
However, the expected efficient scoring did not appear.
Mutombo came on the court early, and Sprewell's two unreasonable breakthroughs were blocked by the opponent.
Seeing Sprewell staggering to the ground, the referee did not say anything, and boos were heard for a while.
The Hawks' bench lineup, Ed Gray and Tyrone Corbin partnered in the backcourt, and all the other main players returned.
The five players on the court began to rush for the frontcourt rebounds.
On the bench, Lee noticed that the two sides were playing slower and slower, and knew that the opponent's game strategy had worked to a certain extent.
Larry Johnson looked at Ben Wallace rushing to protect the backcourt rebound in front of Mutombo, and sighed in a low voice:
"Ben has grown a lot this year, maybe he can get a good contract in the offseason!"
The Knicks' salary is getting more and more.
Lee understood what Larry Johnson meant, and responded in a low voice:
"Don't worry about the salary issue. The team should not mind spending more money."
Several water cooler guardians on the bench also envied "Little Ben".
He performed well in the contract year and got the contract.
He won't have to worry about the US dollars in the next few years.
In the rotation of the second quarter, seeing that the score difference was not narrowed, Jeff Van Gundy still made a substitution according to the clock.
At the end of the half-time game, the Knicks' main lineup returned completely.
42:53, the first half ended, the score difference was still 11 points.
After the second half, the Hawks had their old problem again, and the offense suddenly lost power in the third quarter.
The Knicks attacked step by step, without speeding up or slowing down, and the score rose steadily.
After three quarters, the score was 53:77, and the Hawks scored 11 points in a single quarter.
Ewing looked at Mutombo who was about to go to the bench, and whispered:
"It seems that I will win tonight!"
"."
Looking at the gorilla's proud smile, Mutombo was speechless.
The last quarter of the game completely turned into garbage time.
The Hawks did not follow the head, and quickly replaced the atmosphere group.
Mookie Blaylock was a little disappointed when he returned to the bench.
Although he knew before the game that he was unlikely to be the opponent of the Knicks, he still fell in the third quarter, which was beyond his expectation.
Steve Smith and Mutombo didn't want to talk either.
The team's offense was really bad.
The score tonight probably wouldn't reach 80.
Amid the cheers of New York fans, the atmosphere team also played hard, and the game time passed quickly.
In the end, the home Knicks defeated their opponents 77:101 and ushered in a good start in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
On the bench, Lee stood up and clapped his hands.
Tonight he played 27 minutes, 7 of 13 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 5 of 5 free throws, and scored 20 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 turnover.
When Lee greeted his friends sitting in the front row, TNT reporters interviewed Jeff Van Gundy for the first time.
The confrontation between the champion coach and the coach with a thousand wins is also a highlight of this series:
"Jeff, the Knicks have had an excellent record since taking over the team. Can you talk about your secret to winning? The fans are very curious about this!"
Jeff Van Gundy, wearing a neat black suit, smiled and answered confidently:
"We just believe in each other. I fully trust my players. Everyone plays for each other. This is why the Knicks can continue to win."
"The most important thing is that when the team has an MVP-level player like Lee, it is really hard to lose!"
"."
Many New York fans at the scene also cheered for the bald young coach.
After Jeff Van Gundy was interviewed, he waved to the fans and was secretly proud in his heart:
In the first round, the champion coach won!
...
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